Utility of mechanism-of-injury-based assessment and treatment: Blast Injury Program case illustration

While medicine typically proceeds in a sequential fashion based on primary symptoms, sometimes relying on a parallel, mechanism-of-injury-based approach is advantageous, particularly when the mechanism of injury is associated with a variety of known sequelae. A mechanism-of-injury-based approach relies on knowledge of the typical sequelae associated with that mechanism of injury to guide assessment and treatment. Thus, it represents an active, rather than passive, case-finding approach. This article describes an example of a mechanism-of-injury-based program, namely, a Blast Injury Program at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida. Case examples illustrate the utility of this approach with regard to more comprehensive assessment and treatment, as well as the possibility for secondary prevention.